DHAKA, May 7: Former prime minister and Awami League president Sheikh Hasina Wajed was greeted by tens of thousands of supporters as she arrived in Bangladesh on Monday after the military-backed government lifted a ban on her return.

In a brief statement to the press at Zia International Airport, Ms Hasina, who was facing charges of corruption and murder, warned the government not to make “any further mistake by either arresting her or restricting her movements”.

“I hope the government would not repeat its mistake that it had made by slapping a ban on my returning home,” said Ms Hasina. “What the government did to me during my tour was not acceptable to anyone at home and abroad.”

Ten top leaders of the Awami League received Sheikh Hasina at the VIP lounge of the airport. Party general-secretary Abdul Jalil had sought the government permission for about 100 leaders to be at the airport, but the government allowed only 10 leaders to be at the airport.

Khaleda Zia, chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has welcomed Hasina for her return. Khaleda, who is still believed to be detained in her cantonment residence, said in a statement that every citizen had the right to the freedom of movement and the government should uphold this right.

When Sheikh Hasina came out of the airport tens of thousands of supporters and well-wishers waiting on the roadsides defied a ban on political gatherings to welcome their leader. They raised slogans demanding the withdrawal of ‘false’ charges against her.

Hasina has been accused in two criminal cases. In one case, she has been accused of extorting from the owner of a private-sector power generation company 30 million taka for allowing operation of a barge-mounted power plant in December 1998. Police had on April 11 registered murder charges against Hasina and 55 other politicians of her alliance for the killing of six activists of the Jamaat-i-Islami on October 28.

Hasina was originally scheduled to fly home on April 23 but failed to do so owing to a ban imposed on her return by the interim government on April 18. The British Airways refused to carry her to Dhaka after the Bangladesh government reportedly wrote a letter to the BA authorities not to allow her to board their aircraft. The ban was lifted on April 25.

Meanwhile, a high court bench issued a rule on the government and the Dhaka Cantonment Board to explain within four weeks as to why their actions restricting the movement of former prime minister Khaleda Zia would not be declared illegal.

The court also asked them to explain why they would not be directed to allow Ms Khaleda “to move freely as a free citizen”.

The court directed the telecommunications secretary to restore Ms Khaleda’s disconnected telephone line within three days.The court issued the rule on a writ petition filed on behalf of Khaleda Zia.